Is it as rainy and miserable where you are as it is here right now? Instead of venturing into town which would have resulted in wet hair and a very grumpy Jennie, I've opted to stay home where it's warm and I've got an abundance of hot chocolate and crisps. Today is going to be a fat day, I can sense it already.
Over the last couple of days I've settled into a nice little foundation routine & I get asked a lot to talk through all the slap I put on my face every day so this seems like the perfect opportunity.
The
Vichy Aqualia Thermal Fortifying & Soothing 24hr Hydrating Care (wow that was a mouthful!) moisturiser is really beautiful. If you have super dry skin maybe you'd want to go for something a little heavier because although this is excellent at hydrating the skin without feeling heavy or greasy, it's sometimes not quite enough. For me it's perfect for the day time and makes a really perfect base for make up but I know I'm on the lookout for a slightly richer cream to use as a night cream.
I have also been popping the
Witch Anti-Blemish Skin Clearing Primer on once my moisturiser has sunk in over any especially dry areas of my face such as my cheeks and my nose. Has this helped clear my skin of blemishes? No, but I've found that it does make any foundation apply much more easily and smoothly, which is good!
In terms of foundation I always end up going back to one, and that is
MAC Face & Body. This is the only foundation I currently own that doesn't accentuate dry patches on my skin. Now this foundation isn't perfect for me, I could do with one shade lighter and it doesn't quite have the coverage that I would prefer. So if anyone knows of a foundation that doesn't accentuate dry patches on the face, caters for very fair skin
and has a medium coverage finish then please let me know!! I think Face & Body can sometimes feel a little heavy on the skin but it wears beautifully throughout the day & even when it's super hot outside and you feel like you're going to melt, this foundation stays put and keeps the rest of your make up looking perfect. It's pretty magical!
I've started to fall back in love with
Boi-ing concealer from Benefit which is not good for my purse! This little pot is expensive but because it's quite thick in texture, I feel it gives me slightly more coverage than my other favourite concealer,
Lasting Perfection from Collection 2000. In the inner corners of my eyes I've started reaching for
Erase Paste from Benefit again. This little pot of brightening goodness is really really lovely. It's very pricey but I've had this same pot for ages and I've still got lots left. It can be a little dry sometimes so make sure you really warm it up using your fingers and don't rub it in to the skin, gently tap it instead. It works wonders!
I always like to powder my foundations, I'm not sure why because I don't think I really need to but I do really like the
Witch Pressed Powder in Translucent. I do prefer loose powders generally but this ensures my make up doesn't budge all day!
With eye make up I used to be a '3 coats of mascara and go' girl but lately I've learned how to create the illusion of actually having eyelids & a socket line & I say illusion because I don't really have either of those, darn those hooded eyelids of mine! Using the
Urban Decay Naked Palette I've been popping a light dusting of Virgin in the inner corner and over the lid which works wonderfully at brightening the eyes and making me look more awake. Then I mix Naked and Buck on a fluffy brush and start shading in a socket line & building up the intensity. It's subtle but I really like it and it only takes a couple of minutes to do both eyes!
Mascara wise I switch it up all the time but I'm currently testing the new
Collection 2000 Super Size Fat Lash. So far I think it's okay, but it's certainly nothing special and I think I prefer
Collection 2000's Big Fake Mascara because it makes more of an impact which is good if you have rubbishy lashes like I do!
My favourite part of doing my make up is blusher and we all know by now that my blush collection is a little bit silly. This part of my routine changes all the time but I'm currently pretty obsessed with these two products.
The Chocolate Bronzer from Bourjois is my favourite because it blends really easily, it's not shimmery and it looks really natural on the skin. I use this mainly to define my cheekbones but I do sometimes use it to give myself a tiny bit of overall colour and it works wonderfully for that too!
Blush wise,
Semi-Precious Rose Quartz from MAC is my new love. It looks gorgeous in the pan and it looks equally as gorgeous on the skin. I squish my brush so it picks up the outer pink colour and dust it over my cheeks before using a slightly smaller brush to pick up some of the centre colour and I apply that to the tops of my cheekbones as a highlight. I adore it!
Finally another step that changes all the time is lips. My lips are always dry so Carmex is a must & then the colours I go for depend on my mood that day. I'm going through a pink phase at the moment so I've been reaching for my
Collection 2000 Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Cream in the shade Cotton Candy & then popping a
Natural Collection gloss in the shade Sherbet Fizz over the top. Both lip products smell like cake, and as we established the other day, I like cake! Yum.
So that may seem like a lot of products, it does to me, but it doesn't take that long to apply & I don't think I end up looking overdone at all. You can judge for yourself in the picture below!
Now, lets talk about specs...
The other day I discovered that I own a lot of glasses & I usually only ever wear one pair but we all like to have a bit of choice don't we! I'd forgotten that I owned these beauties and they've been getting a lot of love since I rediscovered them! Now I am well aware that these are not going to be to everyone's taste but I love love
love them! Without my glasses I can't really see a lot, contact lenses aren't the most comfortable things in the world for me, and since I wear my glasses a lot I want to make a statement with them. There used to be a huge stigma attached to wearing specs and I think that's mostly gone away now which is great! They're not something to be embarrassed about at all and honestly, more people wear glasses than you'd imagine!
I've been lusting over a new pair of glasses so I'm going to give the home trial from
Glasses Direct a go. I'm after something a little bit different and I've fallen in love with the frames from
London Retro so I'm hoping one of those will suit me! I think I should also opt for a pair of prescription sunglasses because squinting all summer long isn't a sexy look!
Do you wear specs? Do you like to go for statement frames or do you prefer a more subtle look?
What's your current go to face routine?
xoxo